


If Only You Weren't a Fairytale

by abombinallsnowman



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fantasy, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Selkies, Tags to be added as I go, WIP
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 06:33:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4009531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abombinallsnowman/pseuds/abombinallsnowman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b>Sel•kie</b>  [Sil-kee]  noun, <i>Scot.</i><br/><br/>1.   <i>A mythical creature that resembles a seal in the water but assumes human form on land.</i><br/><br/>When Eren was younger, he would hear stories about creatures called selkies. He grew up with the determination to sail the sea and find one someday.<br/>When his dad would leave every few days over the course of a year, Eren didn’t think much of it.<br/>That was over five years ago, and now Eren is left with a key his dad gave to him when he was ten-years-old, before he left on a boat trip and never came back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If Only You Weren't a Fairytale

**Author's Note:**

> The ratings will change within the next chapter or two since there will be violence, so if you're not interested in reading violent content or are triggered by it, please don't read this fic.
> 
> This is my first SNK fanfiction, and the first time I've written anything in a LONG time. All editing is done by me, so if there is a mistake please tell me and I'll fix it.
> 
> Other than that, I hope you enjoy :)

Levi’s POV

_~six years earlier~_

I close my eyes as the current pushes against me. I glide through the water, the only sound I hear is the rushing of the sea while I lazily move around. I open my eyes and gaze at the expanse of water around me, finding that I went farther down than I thought, since I can see the bottom of the sea quite clearly. I swim closer and find a couple of crabs. I bite down on one and slowly chew, not having anything else to do, and, after all, it’s been awhile since I last ate something. I watch the floor as sea life moves about, never stopping or slowing down. I've always silently appreciated how well they seem to work well and diligently with one another as they do their tasks. Since they do the same things they've been doing their entire life, nobody should expect anything less of them. But it’s always comforting seeing that some creatures keep their life in order, not fucking around just for shits and giggles.

  


I get bored quickly and keep going about my day. I stay close to the sea floor, not wanting to go above sea level and risk being spotted by fishermen, or worse, being caught by them. I've seen enough of people I've known for years be swept up by those thick, ugly ass ropes strung together along with many other fish, only to be hastily taken from the water, never to be seen again.

  


As I slowly continue my trek over the bottom of the sea, I see something out of the corner of my eye that catches the light, even with how dim it is this deep under. I swiftly move toward the object and find a brightly colored, practically iridescent, stone in the shape of an oval. Slightly surprised, I grab the beautiful stone in my mouth, since my fins can’t hold it, and turn toward home, content with my findings for the day.

  


My coat is black, and can easily be compared to obsidian, both with color and shine. I take pride with how pristine I keep my coat, and with the color. It’s easy to be under the radar of others that pass by, ones I don’t want to engage in conversations with, and that comes down to everyone. Only my eyes are a different color, a cloudy steel grey that are in a constant glare, so if someone does spot me, all I have to do is look their way and they’ll quickly turn around and rush off.

  


The only two I sort-of get along with are Hanji and Erwin.

  


Hanji has a nice brown coat, almost an auburn color, but once they open their mouth and talk loud enough to be heard over two sperm whales fucking--and they’re loud--you quickly forget that you gave Hanji a compliment, and regret talking to them in the first place. At least, that’s what I think whenever I talk to them. Erwin, on the other hand, has a blonde, practically golden coat, and is the largest out of us three. He’s the one who comes in between Hanji and I if we’re arguing, but other times, it’s him that starts the fighting, becoming as childish as Hanji during those times.

  


The way we met each other is a weird story. You see, us three belong to a species. We’re all selkies. Half-man, half-seal. If we were to go to land, we shed our pelts and take on the body of a human. So if we become careless and fall asleep out on a rock out in the open with no others, or mistakenly leave our pelt out on the sand, it’s very likely we’ll be spotted and taken by curious fishermen.

  


We have a bad relationship with fishermen. Ever since they first found out about us, they've tried to coax us into going to land, or make larger, stronger nets so they have a higher chance in catching one of us and, unfortunately, it happens more often than it should. All they want is our fucking pelts. To either sell or make one of us their ‘bride’ that they can order around. It’s more sickening than diarrhea. If your pelt gets taken by another, that person then has authority over you. That selkie can’t go back to the ocean without their pelt, so it’s more of a master/slave relationship than something that even remotely resembles a husband and wife, but folklore was written by shitty humans, so of course they’ll make it sound as if we give our consent to be a ‘bride’ if you steal and hide away our pelts.

  


In the first place, there weren’t too many of us anyway. We only live in the North Sea, around the coast of Scotland and Ireland, but sometimes we spread out farther. Like now, I’m near the coast of some town in Germany. I’m originally from France, and I would stay near the coast there, but after a bit, I decided to swim more North, near Ireland and Scotland. That’s where I met the two idiots.

  


One day, I was feeling tired as shit from swimming such a long distance, so I decided to take a break on a black rock that was a bit off to the side, and out of immediate view from fishermen. I started to doze off, and next thing a huge damn wave envelopes me, catching me off guard, and I go falling into the water. When I resurfaced, my eyes were throwing daggers, looking for the asshole and ready to shove shit in their face, but I found myself in the middle of a storm instead. I immediately spot a fisherman's boat getting pushed this way and that, almost like a force was teetering it back and forth. I looked around and noticed a bright thing bobbing in the water, and when I got closer, it was a selkie, the first one I had seen since I left my home. It turned out, he saw that I was sleeping when the boat was moving in my direction, so he interfered. I was the lucky one to become indebted to him, so he wanted me to keep him company, a mystery even to me. Somehow I found myself not minding his companionship after a while. But there was a big downside to accompanying him, and that was Hanji. They’ve known each other for a long time and accepted my grouchy attitude, surprisingly, so I’ve somewhat gotten too use to them over the years we’ve known each other. I could almost call it a friendship.

  


As I keep swimming, I soon find myself closing in on my little den I have that I keep the few things I’ve found over the years. All of them to be shiny objects of all weird shapes and sizes and place the stone in the middle, since it’s the largest out of all the others I have.

  


After I’m content with the placement of the stone, I swim up high enough to see that the moon is out. I go higher until my nose and whiskers are barely out of the water, and see that tonight is the full moon.

  


The night that selkies are able to go to land.

  


Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like being out of the water, and very fucking much don’t like the thought of getting my skin stolen from me, but there are times that all I want to do is place my feet upon soft sand, waves lapping at my feet as I dance freely and carelessly with the moonlight shining on my pale skin.

  


That’s how selkies are, they love to dance once out of the water, being in a different form and being able to move their limbs about, after being in their original form. But there are some who don’t like the land, or don’t want to risk it. That’s how I used to be growing up, fending for myself, learning the dangers of the disgusting humans and watching too many die by their hand. I would never get out of the sea for years sometimes, finding there no reason to go and risk everything just to dance for awhile. It’s one of a few luxuries of selkies, being able to shed our pelts and dance with abandon, but with that we have high risks, and I was not about to do something stupid and reckless anytime soon; and I find my skin comfortable enough, finding myself loving the freedom of the sea more rewarding than being some fuckwad who loses their pelt and is stuck on land until they find it. _If_ they find it.

  


So I always stay in the water, sometimes making contact with the air and watch them enjoy themselves if I’m lazy and have nothing better to do.It’s always nice to see selkies enjoy themselves, watch them as they dance and not give one little shit as to who sees. Since we’ve gone down drastically in numbers, if a human spots some naked person dancing dancing on the shore, they usually just think they’re seeing shit and move on. It’s different with humans and fishermen. I hate to admit it, but fishermen are just the smallest bit less moronic than humans about our species. For humans, we’re just fairy tales, for fisherman, we’re a treasure to be stolen from the sea.

  


After leaving my first home, I rarely surfaced the water, not knowing the area and how dangerous the water was, every so often I would come up to rest, but only for a short time, until I was back in the water, moving swiftly, but not too fast, gazing at the new areas and both small and large sea life. After a short time, I started to look for a place I could keep my findings and other things. I eventually found a quite area, with little to no boats passing around the area, and deep enough to call it safe from most floor life trying to steal my objects.

  


After cleaning out the little den and making sure it was mostly hidden from others, I set out to search the area more and get accustomed to what there is and places I take food from. It was a few days later that I was found sleeping on a dark rock when a shitty someone splashed water on me. That shitty someone being Erwin when he helped save me.

  


So now here I am, looking and just barely seeing land in the distance, wondering if I should go or not.

  


It’s not like I haven’t gone to land ever since I was younger. After I met Erwin and the leech called Hanji, they’ve tried time and time again to get me to go dance with them on land. They go to land like most selkies do, which is every few months since there’s a limited amount of times we can shift. Each time they planned on going, they would beg me--well, Hanji would--to go to land, saying it’ll be safe and they’ll be careful like they have done so each time. I would always turn them down, not because I don’t trust their judgment on if it’s safe or not, but mostly because I’m completely comfortable in the water. And I don’t think Hanji knows what they're talking about when they talk about dancing. My theory was correct the first time I _did_ agree--very, very, reluctantly--to accompany them on land. It was the first time in years that my feet touched soft sand. I told them that all I’ll do is sit and watch their pelts while they danced.

  


_“But Levi!”_

  


_“But nothing, shitty eyesight, you’re not going to get me to dance. No, I shouldn’t call that dancing, it looked like you had to take a shit, but couldn’t decide where to go.”_

  


_“Come on, please! Just for a little while!”_

  


_“No.”_

  


_“You should enjoy the moon, Levi. You could’ve just stayed in the water if you planned on doing nothing.”_

  


_I glared at Erwin for a minute before grumbling a “fine.” and getting up._

  


_“Yay!” Hanji quickly pulled me up with force and yanked me over to where Erwin was._

  


_We danced under the moonlit night, the first time, but not the last time, us three didn’t have any worries, and just danced--well, Erwin and I danced--until the moon lowered enough in the sky that we got on our pelts and slid back into the water unnoticed._

  


I wouldn’t always go with them. I rarely joined them on land, still more comfortable in water, but I would still watch over them since it was always a nice sight, selkies pale skin shining in the moonlight as they moved about, smiles on their face and laughter in the air, their bodies like wisps of air as they moved around the shore like silk blowing in the wind.

  


Tonight Hanji and Erwin were down at their own dens, and here I was, finding myself starting to swim toward the land I saw. I decided I would go near the shore, at least. It wouldn’t be the first time I went on land alone, either. Maybe one or two times a year, but there were times I would slip out of my skin and become free for a few hours. Feel the wind on my bare skin, my feet barely touching the ground, like I was flying and never wanted to stop. I would simply let my body move for me, one limb after another across the white sand, leaving shallow marks all around, a small hint of a smile on my lips as I keep my eyes closed and my body moving, but eventually, the sea beckons me back, and I slip on my pelt again, the water welcoming me, as it always had.

  


The closer I got to the land, the more cautious I became. Watching every part I can see for a sign that anything lives near or around the shore. I’ve always loved my ebony coat since it’s very easy to hide in the shadows. Even with moonlight on the sea, someone could only find me if they were looking. Since there is a possibility of that, I continue to tread slowly, my sharp gaze scanning over each area as they become clearer the closer I get.

  


With most of the land in view, I find no threat, nor any movement beyond the occasional bird soaring by trees. I pick up speed, keeping my head underwater more than keeping it above so I can go faster. I immediately slow down when I can clearly see the bottom of the water, looking up and noticing I’m about a hundred feet from shore. I do one more sweep of the area, much more slowly, I wouldn’t want to underestimate the shitty humans. For how stupid they can be most of the time, some are inconveniently determined to catch a selkie one way or another.

  


After looking for a good few minutes, I decide it's safe enough to silently start moving forward. Once my stomach is touching the sand, I slip out of my skin, picking it up and finding a very dark corner at the bottom of the cliff, folding it and laying some sand over to cover it more. Giving a small nod of approval once I deem it hidden, I look around the area. It's a small shore, with rocks and a small coral reef beside it, and on the other side is a large stretch of sand, a cliff maybe 30 feet high behind me.

  


I look out into the sea, watching the waves catch the moonlight for a moment until I start to move. Being in a human body, stark naked, in the middle of an autumn night, you would think my balls were about to freeze off. But our species doesn't give one shit how cold it is without our blubber pelt once we're on land and moving about. And no one cares about being naked, there isn't any point in it if you're just going to go back into the ocean in a few hours. It's just a bother and feels weird against my skin. I think it's stupid that humans wear that shit for any reason except for warmth.

  


The first few steps on land are always the best. Feeling the soft sand close around my feet with each step. The worst about it is how quickly it gets you dirty, there is no way to completely get rid of it off your skin, and it drives me fucking crazy, but it doesn’t stop me from trying once it’s time to get back into my pelt. I close my eyes as a breeze goes by, already relaxed enough that I don't care about my hair in my face. I take a long step forward, my foot barely skimming the sand. I curve my leg out for next step, letting my body take over, my right arm lifting as I rise on the balls of my foot, lazily doing a turn before both my feet are back on the ground. I do a quick spin, lifting off the ground a little bit with my arms in front of my chest until I'm back on the sand, arms spread wide and then I'm moving again. I take long, swift steps until I abruptly stop in my stride to take a sharp right, arms in front of me, one hand over the other and then I'm spinning, one foot in the sand, the other kept in the air, pushing the ground every once in awhile to keep me going.

  


It was while I was spinning, eyes closed and mind clear of anything and everything when I let go. My body moving in a trance as I stopped listening, stopped seeing, everything going in slow motion and time stood still. Now, I know that I’ve made more mistakes than a regular person will their entire life, but this one tops the shit list.

  


My eyes shoot open, my movement stops, my breathing starts to come out faster as my heart tries to push its way out of my chest.

  


There was a huge net over me. I fell to the ground on impact and I could feel the tight criss-cross of the netting. I pause in my movement, in shock for half a second before I’m moving, placing my feet flat on the ground as I attempt to lift my body up, finding it to be a bit difficult with large round balls at the edges of the net. Then a man hovers over me, with brown hair in a ponytail, round glasses, and a triumphant grin on his horrid face. He squats and quickly pulls on some of the netting, making my limbs tangled as I fall back down. I don’t even have to think when I throw a punch to his shitty face, making contact with his cheek, but not as hard as I intended. He falters for a second before he’s back to smiling like a kid at Christmas. “You’re a pretty one. I never thought a day like this would come.” I ignore him, finding my footing again and this time fully standing up, even with the heavy weight of the net over me as I spread my feet and put up my arms in a fighting pose, coming to me naturally even though I haven’t fought like this in years.

  


The man gives a chuckle. I sneer at him and almost growl in frustration from being so foolish.

  


“Do you want this?” He asks teasingly.

  


My eyes widen as I gasp at what he’s holding. My skin. He has my beautiful, black pelt in his revolting hand, holding it up as the moonlight catches it’s shine, even with it covered in sand. My world comes crashing down as I try to wrap my head around the situation. He can do one of two things: sell my pelt and make millions, becoming famous for the rest of his life, or he could keep it, making me his ‘slave’.

  


My balled fists start to slacken, however much I want to fight, I know it would only result in consequences. I am now under his command to do whatever he wishes. He has control over me.

  


My anger is now boiling over, both at him and myself. How can I be so fucking stupid! To let a shitty human capture me and hold my skin with his shitty hands. I’m ready to kill him right now. I’m ready to beat this asshole until he can’t shit out his ass. But however much I loathe him, I can’t do anything to stop him from taking me unless I get my skin back.

  


I stare at my pelt, wondering how I even let it out of my sight for longer than second. I look back at the man--who hasn’t stopped looking at me--and decide it’s now or never.

  


I put my head down in defeat, arms limp at my side, letting my shoulders sag.

  


“Hm, give up already? I guess that comes with having this.” I hear the smile in his cocky voice. “You sure are small, though. I don’t remember ever reading about your kind being different than any other human before. Well, anyway, got something to say? Or are you just going to be like this? Not that I mind in the least.”

  


I ignore him, keeping my ground and my breathing normal. I try not to think about long I’ll be under his control, how long it’ll be until I can go back in the sea. I try to make these thoughts go away as I center myself, keeping my body steady.

  


He takes a step closer, grabbing my chin and roughly pulling my face up. I glare at him as he turns by head side to side. I suppress the urge to spit in his face, almost giving in, but then he lets go, taking a step back. He looks me over and nods once. “You’ll be easy enough to transfer by myself.”

  


I push down my concern as soon as I see him turn around. I see my chance and lunge at him, tackling him to the ground. I swiftly pull on some of the rope to let my arms have more room and then I see red as I let all my anger out, both fists flying as I crouch over him. He regains himself quickly, moving my pelt out of reach and then twisting his body, grabbing my wrists tightly, but not before I get a few good punches to his ribs and sides. I even punched his nose, blood still dripping, but he either doesn’t notice or ignores the pain in favor of twisting my wrists, and all I can do is give a sharp cry before he pulls out a small vial with a point on one end, filled with blue liquid, and then he’s plunging it into my arm. I give a sharp cry at the sudden pain that shoots through my arm.

  


It takes effect immediately, my limbs starting to feel numb as my head becomes more and more hazy. He moves me to the side, laying me flat before he moves out of view. I try my hardest to make my limbs move, barely being able to move my arm out less than a foot without it feeling like I’m moving a fucking mountain. I move my head around, looking for my skin, but the more I move my head, the harder it becomes to see clearly. I don’t feel it, but I see movement, so I turn my head as I see the man pick up one of the round rocks attached to the rope, seeing him struggle a bit with the weight, and then he’s moving again. By now, my eyes can barely open, too heavy to keep them up for long. I them open for a bit longer, but all I see is a blur of long brown hair and a white sheet. I barely register his voice saying “You sure can fight for your size, I shouldn’t have underestimated you. But in the end, I’ve still caught you.” He’s close enough to my face that I can see his huge shitty grin plastered on his face before I close my eyes, and only see black.


End file.
